Medical diagnostic ultrasound imaging systems can be coupled in a network arrangement to allow images generated by the systems to be available to users of the network. Because current network management procedures often require the use of one or more service technicians, the costs associated with these current procedures can be disproportionately high with respect to the cost of the ultrasound system, especially for low-cost ultrasound systems. For example, if there is a problem with one of the imaging systems on the network, a user of the network phones a technician at a remote service center to verbally report the problem. A remotely-located technician can also contact the ultrasound system via a modem or network connection to remotely query the ultrasound system for diagnostic or configuration information, as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,603,323 and 5,715,823. Based on the type of problem being reported and any previously-reported problems, the technician decides whether to schedule an appointment to inspect the troubled ultrasound device or merely make a record of the problem. In addition to the relatively high cost associated with this procedure, it is often difficult for the technician at the remote service center to assess the severity of the problem since the record of reported problems is often incomplete. Installing new software applications can also be a relatively costly procedure since it often requires a service technician to decide what version of the software application to install.
There is, therefore, a need for an improved medical diagnostic ultrasound imaging system and method for network management that will overcome these disadvantages.
The present invention is defined by the following claims, and nothing in this section should be taken as a limitation on those claims.
By way of introduction, the preferred embodiments described below provide a medical diagnostic ultrasound imaging system and method for network management. In one preferred embodiment, a medical diagnostic ultrasound imaging system network is presented comprising first and second medical diagnostic ultrasound imaging systems coupled with a processor. An error message is sent from the first medical diagnostic ultrasound imaging system to the processor, and the processor automatically analyzes and responds to the error message. In another preferred embodiment, configuration information from the first and second medical diagnostic ultrasound imaging systems is sent to the processor. Based on the configuration information sent from the first medical diagnostic ultrasound imaging system, the processor automatically selects a software application from a plurality of software applications and sends the selected software application to the first medical diagnostic ultrasound imaging system.
The preferred embodiments will now be described with reference to the attached drawings.